Hi guys,
I've been trying to figure out who built the Arrow II, Arrow III, and Silverliner IV.
Several of my books list the manufacturers as being GE and Avco, and several articles claim that Avco designed and/or built the body shells.
At the same time, many people are very insistent that these railcars were all assembled at The Budd Company's Red Lion plant in Philadelphia.
I cannot find any evidence of Budd involvement, but I'm told there are photos and articles that back it up.
Does anyone have any insight in the matter?
Chris
Modeling Conrail, Amtrak and NJ DOT under the wires in New Jersey, July 1979.
I always thought the Silverliner IVs were assembled at GE-Erie.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
Silverliner IV is basically a Budd design. Budd sold its patents, designs, and tooling to GE when it left the business.
How is it a budd design? people say this, but can't seem to demonstrate whate budd did. furthermore, budd was still building railcars and MUs when the Silverliner IV was built. I don't think thy were selling their designs just yet.
Whats more, it seems like Budd's proposal for a "Silverliner" was a double ended Metroliner with mid car doors (similar to today's silverliner V). This is based off of early budd engineering designs. This seems to be supported by the SPV, which also bears a greater resemblance to the Metroliner/Amfleet.
You may be correct about the Silverliner IV, but Budd did sell the patents and tooling to GE when they left the business. What was the date of the Silverliner IV and which mu's was Budd building at that time? The Metro North and LIRR Metropolitan 1's and Cosmopolitan 2's (for NH line) were built by Budd, but the next group were GE to Budd designs. As far as I remember, and I may be mistaken, the last Budd railcars were the CTA 2200's.
The Silverliner IVs and Arrow IIs were built during 1973-1975 as part of the same "run", and the Arrow IIIs were built from 1976-1979.
I'm told by a former employee that during this time, Budd was building Amfleet Is and the Metropolitan/Cosmopolitan cars. He also says he didn't see any of the GE cars in the plant during those times, but that apparently isn't enough evidence to say that they weren't "Budd" cars in secret somehow.
Were Silverliner IVs and Arrow II compatible with each other in MU coupling?
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.